DAVID MONTESINO/MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE

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Safer laws possible

While we are in a philosophical civil war between those who would outlaw guns in toto and those who would label Wyatt Earp a liberal because he made cowboys check their Colts upon entering Dodge City, I believe that common ground can be reached, but the NRA is perhaps an inappropriate voice for those who seek a reasonable solution. This includes many of its members.

I am and intend to remain a gun owner and hunter, but since I am not a member of the NRA, I can confess that within my five decades of trotting through woods, marshes and cornfields, I have never come across any of my fellow travelers equipped with any firearm capable of discharging more than five rounds (sometimes three).

To quote a participant in one of the ongoing discussions: "Don't you think we should give our kids (and now firefighters) the same chance to escape we give deer and ducks?"

Anyone who truly believes the mythic Founding Fathers envisioned fortified kindergartens and armed fire trucks as justified and sensible methods of preventing a profaning of the Constitution either has not read or does not understand that document.

Wilson A. Copeland II

Detroit

Respect law-abiders' rights

I am weary of, and saddened by, the vitriolic rhetoric directed against law-abiding gun owners, as published in the opinion sections of news media.

We are not deranged maniacs, bent on mayhem and destruction, who callously disregard the sanctity of human life, as these writers would have you believe. We are housewives, househusbands, educators and bricklayers. We are clergy, autoworkers, doctors and farmers. We are journalists, business owners, nurses and politicians. We are your friends and neighbors, relatives and coworkers.

I respect the fact that these writers have chosen not to hunt or target-shoot or own firearms for personal protection; it is their right as citizens of the United States. Please respect the decision of those who have chosen to engage in those activities.

The Second Amendment was not an afterthought. It was a conscious decision on the part of our forefathers to afford the citizens of this country the ability to protect themselves and guard against tyranny.

Danny Herman

Dimondale

Break the NRA connection

As a Canadian, I foresee that your ruinous cult of the gun will fade only when the unholy alliance between the Republican Party and the National Rifle Association is disrupted.

John Dignan

Windsor

Tax gun owners?

Congratulation to the NRA for its thoughtful recommendation on how to deal with gun violence in schools. But how will we pay for it? What about a tax on gun owners? Seems only fair.

Gerald P. Maloney

Southfield

When good guys turn bad

I wonder how many good guys have become bad guys just because they had access to a gun at a moment of rage.

Bill Richardson

Riverview

Potential problems

Six questions for advocates of arming people at potential massacre sites (like schools):

• In 2009, why didn't all the military guns present at Ft. Hood prevent 13 deaths and 29 wounded?

• How does one determine "potential massacre sites"? To paraphrase the NRA, where will the legislation end? After arming schools, what? Libraries? Places of worship? Restaurants? Banquet halls? Weddings? Funerals?

• What background checks should be required of applicants for armed guards?

• If several people at the site are armed but not in uniform, how will one determine who the bad guys are?

• What is the cost of armed guards at every American school compared to the cost of providing community mental health training and services?

Peter Pascaris

West Bloomfield

Insurance for guns

There are millions of guns out there, and little can be done to reduce their number unfortunately. However, there are ways of preventing some further growth.

We register vehicles for a fee, license drivers for a fee, and require drivers to obtain insurance. Why can't we do the same thing for guns in the future? Applications for licenses would have to be accompanied with certification by a physician that the applicant had no mental health problems that made approval unwise or dangerous. Premiums from mandatory insurance coverage could flow to a fund used to compensate gun victims.

Fees could be higher for carrying a gun and also higher for more lethal weapons, such as assault guns and semiautomatics. Insurance rates would also increase with risk.

Jim Harnden

West Bloomfield

Your newspaper is clearly biased against individual liberty. You promote that employees must be part of union to get employment. You promote that individuals should not have access to arms to protect themselves. Your approach, like that of typical liberals, is to malign people and organizations that fight for freedom. Does your organization have a security desk? I know you do, because I have been there. Your illogical assaults against personal freedom are hollow. Troy

Angry armed teachers?

I am a hunter, and I own several guns. I think all the talk about arming teachers to fight off gun attackers in schools is just nuts.

I don't know about you, but I would not really want to work with people packing heat. Dare you disagree with them on anything? What happens if they get too angry and lose their cool? That happens all the time in the workplace.

Who is going to protect us against angry armed teachers? Do we all have to bring a gun to work to be safe? Beside the NRA, who wants that?

We have all heard stories about how hard it is to remove a bad teacher from the schools. During that process, some teachers become very angry and threatening. What happens if one of the teachers targeted for removal decides that now they want to start packing heat and they get all the required gun permits? How do you suppose that is going to turn out?

Sam Gizzi

St. Clair Shores

Fiscal cliff? Forget about that. What about our society tumbling over the insanity cliff? The gun crowd is shifting blame from the issue of guns to the issue of mental illness. All right. Let's open back up the asylums and see that the truly deranged spend some much needed time there. Only this time, it needs to be Wayne LaPierre and the NRA, Ted Nugent, Gun Owners of America Executive Director Larry Pratt, Mike Huckabee (blaming the banning of prayer in public schools for the tragedy), state House Speaker Jase Bolger, state Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville and all the members of the Michigan Legislature who voted to expand the right to carry a gun anywhere in Michigan, except, of course, the state Capitol. Canton

War zone

Forget about Afghanistan. There's more gun violence here than there. We need to get out of here.

Jim Enger

Roscommon

Weapon reality

People need to start dealing with reality. As long as there have been humans, we have been using weapons against each other -- whatever weapons are available. We do it in impulsive anger, in hatred, in fear, and sometimes out of the twisted mental processes of the sick mind. None of this will change.

We have the societal right to choose which weapons will be available and need to accept that they will be used on each other. It may be horrible, but it is simply reality.

So stop crying about it, stop rationalizing, stop blaming each other and blaming ideologies and governments and anyone but ourselves. Choose which weapons we want to have and accept the use of them on each other as part of the deal. It will always be so.

Chuck Smith

Kenockee

Cover the costs

Numerous individuals across our country want teachers to carry guns. As a teacher, I am opposed to such an insane idea. However, if the public must have its way, then I would demand that the public finance this insanity.

As a teacher, I would expect the public to do the following for all 6 million teachers across the U.S.:

• Pay for teachers' liability insurance to cover no less than $30 million.

• Purchase the teachers' gun and bullets.

• Purchase the teachers' bulletproof vest.

• Pay for the teachers' training and any other associated fees.

• Pay for any related mental health or physical health related to any shooting that a teacher might participate in.

• Include a teachers' salary increase to an additional $50,000 for this added responsibility.